Clay
Clay is a young male MudWing and the main protagonist of The Dragonet Prophecy. He was sold to the Talons of Peace for some cows. Clay was born from a blood-red MudWing egg, so he has fireproof scales. It is implied he has a romantic interest in Peril, who is also known to like him back. He loves his students and teaches Herbs and Healing at Jade Mountain Academy. He is considered the bigwings to the Dragonets of Destiny (although he is the oldest and biggest of his biological siblings, they are currently led by Reed, the second oldest of them). Appearance Clay is a strong, broad, and muscular MudWing with thick brown scales that seem to be richer and deeper when in direct sunlight, like the bark of a healthy mahogany tree with undertones of glowing amber and golden colors. He is large and powerfully built and has warm hazel-tinted brown eyes. He has a flat, wide snout and thick, powerful jaws. His horns are small and dark brown as well. Clay was also said to have very large talons and thick brown claws, as well as a large sloping back topped with dark brown spines. Ever since Peril burned the venom of a dragonbite viper out of his veins to save his life, he has a large burn scar on his right hind thigh and walks with a limp, as the wound was too deep and large for his fireproof scales to heal over completely. Personality Clay is a sweet, caring, brave, and protective dragon. He is seen as a bigwings by most of his friends due to his selflessness and kindness. He's willing to give anyone the benefit of the doubt, but he will stand up for himself and his loved ones at all costs, even willing to guard them with his own life. He's loyal to a fault, honest, open and would never intentionally hurt someone's feelings. He's also very patient and empathetic, as shown in Moon Rising when he calmly separates Pike and Carnelian during a heated argument. He also has a love for food that Sunny calls "adorable." Biography The Dragonet Prophecy Clay is the son of Cattail, who sold his egg for two cows to the Talons of Peace without hesitation. Clay was brought to the hidden cave by the MudWing guardian, Asha, a member of the Talons of Peace who was also his aunt. Sadly, Asha died shortly after bringing him due to injuries she received when she'd been caught in a battle between the armies of Blister and Blaze. Clay was the first Dragonet of Destiny to hatch and tried to help break the rest of the dragonets' eggs open. It's instinctual for the first of a MudWing clutch to hatch to help the others out of their shells by breaking them, but with Asha being dead and unable to explain this, the rest of the guardians misunderstood this action and thought he was trying to kill them, so Clay was thrown into the river until the rest of the eggs hatched. Clay grew up with the other Dragonets of Destiny, Tsunami, Glory, Sunny, and Starflight under a large mountain in a cave in the Sky Kingdom. They were cared for by Kestrel, Dune, and Webs, members of the Talons of Peace, although they had low opinions of their guardians, calling their raising "imprisonment." Clay had trouble in battle training with Kestrel, who periodically attacked him with fire and complained about how he was too gentle, demanding to see more of the 'vicious little monster' he had supposedly had been when he hatched, referring to his "eggshell-breaking" episode. When the dragonets were old enough, they were supposed to leave the cave and fulfill the prophecy. However, they all possessed a desire to escape their confined existence, excluding Sunny. One day, the deliverer of the prophecy, Morrowseer, visited the cave to inspect the dragonets. The menacing NightWing decreed that Clay, Tsunami, and Starflight were worthy of staying, showing special favor toward Starflight, that Sunny was a possible candidate, and that Glory was an unworthy substitute for the deceased SkyWing mentioned in the prophecy. Clay eavesdropped on the guardians through a river that ran throughout the entire cave and, overheard that they were planning to have Kestrel kill Glory the next night by breaking her neck. Tsunami was chained as part of this plot, as she was the only one who could stop Kestrel from killing Glory. Knowing that time was running out, Clay escaped through the underground river. Glory hid by changing her scale pattern to match the rocks and stalactites in the cave, gaining more time. Risking his life, (as MudWings are only able to hold their breath for about an hour compared to SeaWings, who have gills and can breathe underwater infinitely), Clay managed to get reasonably far down the river, but he was then covered with a substance that started to dissolve his scales (probably sulfur or sulfuric acid). He was rescued from this unfortunate fate by Tsunami, who finally succeeded in escaping with the aid of Sunny and Starflight by melting the chain links with their combined fire breath. After catching up to Clay, the two swam through the cave filled with glowworms and toxic sticky smooth and awesome white substances until they burst outside, emerging from the waterfall that dropped at the cave entrance. This caused the two dragonets to start flying, or trying to fly, in Tsunami's case. After Clay got over the bout of excitement caused by his first flight, he noticed that Tsunami had rapidly fallen. Upon looking closer, Clay guessed one of her wings was dislocated, and this was the reason she was unable to fly properly. He barreled into a dive and sped towards her as fast as he could. He wasn't strong enough to stop her fall, but he was able to slow her down until they crashed into trees and thudded to the grassy ground. Clay was unsurprisingly delighted by the mud that was bordering the banks of the river they had landed beside. After convincing Tsunami he could push the dislocated bone back into its socket, a scavenger had appeared in the clearing. It was holding a sword and a burlap sack. Upon further investigation, they found the sack contained a variety of jewels, gold, and jewelry. The duo then encountered Queen Scarlet of the SkyWings, who insisted they would return to her kingdom after she had a conversation with Clay and decided they could be useful. Knowing they had to get back to their friends still trapped in the cave, they had no choice but to injure the regal SkyWing by stabbing the scavenger's sword into the vulnerable spot on her tail. They managed to quickly escape before Scarlet found them and find their cave in able to free their friends shortly afterward, but were captured by the enraged Queen Scarlet, due to the smoke signal the remaining dragonets had set so that Tsunami and Clay could find the cave and free them. Queen Scarlet challenged different prisoners against each other in gladiatorial style battles in her dreaded arena for her and her subjects' entertainment. If the prisoner won enough battles, she would put them against her champion, Peril. Peril was invulnerable because of a rare birth defect that caused her to be born with too much fire. This meant that Peril would burn anything she touched, so she couldn't read or write and had to be extremely cautious around other dragons. Clay began to befriend Peril, strangely immune to her heat. Clay volunteered to stand in for Starflight after learning he was next to fight in the arena. Queen Scarlet sent Clay to face off Fjord of the IceWings, who managed to pin him down. Fjord was about to strike the killing blow with his deadly frost breath when Glory secretly shot acidic venom that dissolved his face, and Clay was victorious. Later on, he decided to hide Peril during Kestrel's trial in exchange for the knowledge of Sunny's location. After the trial, Peril did not speak with him. That night Queen Scarlet had her ally, Princess Burn over. To get Peril's attention, he used a wire Peril had accidentally burned through earlier, dragging it across his other wires to create a sound. He started playing The Dragonets Are Coming (Bar Song), and soon the other prisoners joined in. Scarlet and Burn noticed the racket and Clay, Starflight, and Tsunami were taken to Peril’s room, where Peril helped them escape. With the help of Peril, Clay and his friends tried to escape, only to be betrayed by Peril herself. During this vain escape, he learned that his scales were impervious to fire. The following day was Queen Scarlet's hatching day, so she set up bloody plans for her and Burn’s entertainment. The three confused dragonets (Starflight, Tsunami, and Clay) were taken to the balcony of the queens, on which Burn and Scarlet were seated on as well. He watched helplessly as Tsunami was forced to fight a mad SeaWing called Gill, who was later revealed to be her father. After Tsunami killed him, Clay was also forced to watch Starflight and Tsunami fight scavengers and IceWings. After Starlight was rescued by Morrowseer and the other NightWings, Clay was faced against Peril. He surprised her with his ability to fight back, and quickly pinned her, but wouldn't kill her. When Scarlet suggested Clay used what she thought was his venom, Glory shot venom from her front longest fangs at Burn, who shoved Scarlet in the way. The venom hit Scarlet in the side of her face, causing it to melt. They were then able to escape with Peril's help, and succeeded in rescuing Kestrel in the process, the action in which Clay and Sunny were the only supporters. They finally managed to escape, and then they traveled to the Mud Kingdom to find Clay's parents. Clay was disappointed to find that his mother didn't care about him and sold him to the Talons of Peace in exchange for cows, but he found the group of his brothers and sisters, Reed, Marsh, Sora, Umber, and Pheasant (though one named Crane was killed in a recent battle, later found that it was Icicle who killed her) that he would have belonged with if he not been taken by the Talons of Peace. Finally, at peace with himself, Clay leaves with his friends in the search for Tsunami's parents. Relationships Starflight As with the other dragonets, Clay considers Starflight a brother and states that he dreams of being lectured by the NightWing. He took the dragonbite viper bite meant for Starflight and protected him when the volcano from the NightWing Fortress exploded. Tsunami Tsunami is one of Clay's close friends. She found and cured him when Clay got drenched in the white ooze in the underground river and his scales were burning with pain. She stabbed Scarlet's tail to give herself and Clay the opportunity to fly away from the SkyWing queen. Later, she calls Clay a "handsome idiot" and gives him a hint that Peril likes him, though it goes right over his head. Throughout the book, Tsunami often interjects when Clay talks about Glory and Sunny in front of Peril because she appears to understand that Peril gets jealous. After she and Clay escape from under the mountain, Clay notices how beautiful and shiny her scales were. In The Lost Heir, she states she had feelings for Clay and Starflight but had gotten over her crushes when she realized Clay thought of her as a sister and that Starflight was "too annoying." She was also the second one to hatch, and the first egg Clay tried to ‘attack.’ Sunny Sunny is like a little sister to Clay, and he treats her as such. When Clay decided to travel down the river under the mountain, Sunny said, "Don't you dare die!" Clay also wanted to go save Sunny when she was trapped in a cage in the Sky Kingdom. When Sunny wants to explain her idea about the darts in the RainWings' attack, she turns to Clay because she thinks he will listen. He seems to be the dragonet she confides in the most. Clay takes a poisonous viper bite to save Sunny's life and says he would do it over and over again if he could. Clay is one of the only dragons to actually take Sunny seriously, as shown when Clay paid attention to the "weird crab" Sunny found. Glory Glory is also one of Clay's friends. He refers to her as beautiful once in the book, and feels bad about thinking that Glory was actually asleep when she was displayed as "artwork." When Glory comes into view after Kestrel said she's going to kill her, Clay twines his tail with hers. When Glory goes missing, Clay is very worried about her; in Escaping Peril, he was devastated when he believed she'd been killed by Scarlet. Peril Clay befriended Peril while trapped in the SkyWing arena by Ex-Queen Scarlet. They quickly became friends and Peril developed feelings for him because he was the only dragon that liked her the way she was. Queen Scarlet had only been using her for entertainment. After Clay fights Fjord, Peril brings hot mud to treat his scratches and wounds. He soon finds out that Scarlet ordered Peril not to talk to him, but she defies those orders. Peril seemed jealous of the other dragonets because she wanted Clay to herself; when she helps the dragonets escape and later betrays them, Clay touches her and discovers that he's immune to her firescales. This helps when he fights Peril against his will in the arena, leaving Peril to admit that she wanted to save him after Kestrel and for him to like her more than the other dragonets. She says she does not want to kill him, and Clay says she has to. Their fight ends after Queen Scarlet is sprayed with Glory's venom, and they escape in the ensuing chaos. Glory says Peril might be the missing SkyWing, but that is proved false. Peril chose to stay behind and distract the other SkyWings from the escaping dragonets, where she states that's all she's good for. But then Clay delivers the award-winning line when he finally gets it, saying that it's not all she's good for and giving her a dragon equivalent of a hug. Peril leaves but sees the dragonets again in The Brightest Night and Moon Rising. Peril saves Clay's life in the fifth book by burning out the dragonbite viper's venom in his thigh. In the sixth book, he invites her to the Jade Mountain Academy. In Talons of Power (Book), Qibli tells Peril that Clay likes her but just doesn't know what to do about it. In Darkness of Dragons, Peril and Clay go flying together. In this scene, it is likely that Clay reciprocates Peril's feelings for him, although the ending is vague. Siblings Reed, Marsh, Crane, Pheasant, Sora and Umber are Clay's siblings, who he met when he tried to visit his mother. Glory went with Clay disguised as a MudWing. Crane died before Clay came back. If his egg was not taken by the Talons of Peace, Clay would have become the bigwings. So instead, Reed became the bigwings. Clay is shown to appreciate this because he's glad to have Reed protecting his siblings when he can't. When Starflight used his dreamvisitor, he saw Clay dream about his siblings. Starflight said, "More dragons we have to save in this war." He seemed shocked and saddened when Sora set a bomb off in the school. Students Clay cares about the students at Jade Mountain Academy and their safety. He is regarded as a hero among them due to his limp caused by his wound from the dragonbite Viper. Quotes "I'm-uh-open to suggestions." - To Sunny when he was bitten with the dragonbite viper. ”You know what I love? Fish. Lots of fish. Big fish I can eat, not these little wriggle-scraps.”- To his friends when Tsunami says she loves the smell of the ocean. "I'll stick with friends who aren't trying to kill me, thanks." - To Peril in the SkyWing arena. "Boring! Stop fighting with each other! Come and fight me for this treasure instead!" - To Starflight and Queen Glory during a play-acting of Queen Oasis's death in The Dragonet Prophecy (Book). "Ow. Don't make me laugh. I think my ribs are broken." - To Tsunami in The Dragonet Prophecy. "I'm Clay. I think I'm your son." - To Cattail when he first meets her in The Dragonet Prophecy. "There's no point. I don't have a place here." - To Glory about the Mud Kingdom. "I'm awake. I'm just waiting until Glory and Tsunami stop fighting. I was dreaming about sheep and buffalo and bears. They were all on the table in front of me and I had to decide which to eat first. Oh, and they all smelled like melons. That part was kind of weird." - Recovering from being tranquilized in The Hidden Kingdom. "Are you going to eat that whole thing?" - Asking Glory about a mango. "Can I eat this?" - Asking Mangrove about a fruit in the rainforest. "Mishish vemmy shmewey." - About a very chewy fruit stuck in his teeth. "Can we eat them?" - About the dolphins. "Aww. What happened to the hippos?" - After waking up, wishing for his dream to come back to him. "I'd like to be something more than alive. I'd like to be the kind of dragon she doesn't think I am - the kind they write prophecies about. That dragon would rescue her no matter how awful she is." - About saving Kestrel. "Mwa ha! That's me! Intimidating! Roar!" - To Glory and Tsunami. ”We’re happy to see you. Tell us about the tribe. Does everyone adore you? Are they good fighters? What do they eat?” ''- To Tsunami after she rescues him. ''"Quit snarling at each other like mini Kestrels." ''- To Starflight and Tsunami while they were fighting. ''"We're figuring it out." - To Blaze "All better. Well, almost all better.” ''- After Tsunami rescues him. ''"You should go. Fly across the sea as fast as you can. Maybe you'll make it before the volcano really explodes." - To Morrowseer "Wow. No wonder I've always felt ordinary." - When Morrowseer says the Dragonets of Destiny are ordinary. " Wasn't enormous. That was the smallest pig in the whole world."- To Sunny "I'd die to save you and Starflight over and over if I had to." - To Sunny after saving her, Fatespeaker, and Starflight from the Dragonbite Viper. "I volunteer, I'm a world champion at sitting on my friends." - When Glory was told to sleep, and that if she didn't, she would be sat on. "Sure. I mean I've eaten breakfast. What else do I need to do? Oooh, maybe some more breakfast. That's a good idea." ''- To Sunny ''"Wow, everything hurts. Uh... Did I miss anything?" - After he regains consciousness and Thorn is queen. "It'll be over soon, and then I can go have dinner." - Clay's thought when he's fighting Kestrel. "I will not! I'll feel colder! Stop it! Go away! Argh!" - When Tsunami dumped him in the river. "CHICKENS, GIVE UP! WE'RE GOING TO EAT YOU! THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT! STOP RUNNING AWAY NOW!" - At Jade Mountain Academy, to the chickens in the Prey Center. "Well, I know what I want my destiny to be, I want it to be sleeping and being friends with you guys forever. Oh, wait, also feasting! Lots of feasting." - When coming up with ideas for Jade Mountain Academy. "You said stomping tails was cheating!" - While training with Kestrel in The Dragonet Prophecy (Book) "THINK ABOUT COWS THINK ABOUT COWS THINK ABOUT COWS THINK ABOUT COWS THINK ABOUT DELICIOUS FAT COWS" - Thinking when Clay first meets Morrowseer. "I like it. Of course it's much nicer to be this high when your wings are free. But at least the SkyWings gave us a pig sometimes. Do you have pigs? Octopi would be alright if you don't. Or squid. Or manatees. I could go for a manatee right now. Or a whale. I'm not fussy, is what I'm saying. Say, how did you make this big thing? Did it take forever to build?" - When Riptide took the Prophecy Dragonets to the Summer Palace. "Peril, I'm not going to be a new Scarlet for you. You get to make your own choices now." - ''To Peril ''”I guess this means no feast?" - When being shoved into a cave at the Summer Palace. "Maybe... maybe Peril is our wings of fire." - Clay after Peril burnt the poison out of him. ”We got some breakfast leftovers this morning. Very extremely tiny small crabs.” - To Tsunami when she asks if they were even fed. "We'll have field trips! And mangoes! Mandatory mangoes." - To Sunny about Jade Mountain Academy. "You don't need him. You have friends now. You have me." - To Peril about Chameleon. "Hey, that stick is very heavy. You wouldn't want to get whacked with that thing. Also, we have Tsunami! And now Peril. That's better than a couple of swords." - To Qibli in Darkness of Dragons about the weapons 'cave'(box). " Which level is the feasting on? You do have feasting, right? No reason. Just wondering." ''- After Riptide told them some of the different levels. ''"This is a school, you know. Sunny and I thought perhaps an entire cave full of sharp objects might not be the best idea. We thought, maybe, hey, something that locks instead." ''- To Qibli about the weapons at Jade Mountain Academy. ''"Oh, if you insist. I suppose I could eat one more hippo." ''- When the other Prophecy Dragonets are trying to wake Clay up. ''"Peril, I'd love to." ''- About Peril asking if he wants to fly with her. ''"With a feast! There was a feast at the end of the story! When the missing SeaWing princess got home, her parents were so happy they made a feast! I remember the feast. They ate a whole whale. I bet ''I ''could eat a whole whale. Do you think we'll get a feast?" - ''To his friends when Glory asks what they should do next. TriviaEdit * Clay is named after a real-life material of the same name, which is a stiff, sticky fine-grained earth. This material is also used in art, and can be used to make cups, bowls and more. * Clay has the desire to eat many different types of foods and enjoys trying new types, a common trait among MudWings. ** Clay appears to have a liking for more meaty meals. In ''The Dragonet Prophecy, he loves cows. In The Hidden Kingdom, Blaze wants to plan a party with the Dragonets of Destiny and offers Clay a camel. Glory then assumes that Clay would love to be offered a camel. ** His favourite food are big animals like hippos and cows. ** Clay was actually dreaming about food when Starflight visited him in The Dark Secret. * Clay sometimes dreams about Starflight giving him lectures. * Clay seems to be skilled in first-aid as shown in The Lost Heir and Moon Rising. He also teaches Herbs and Healing at Jade Mountain Academy. * Clay, Tsunami, and Sunny are the only original Dragonets of Destiny who have met their mothers. * Clay is the sixth dragon to appear in the series, the second MudWing, and the first dragonet. * In the annotated version of The Dragonet Prophecy, Tui revealed that she had originally wanted him to have a crush on Glory, but decided that didn't work at all.1 * Clay knows of Peril's crush on him, and Qibli says that Clay likes her back but doesn't know how to feel about it. * Clay never did truly believe in the powers of the NightWings. * Clay currently has a limp in his leg resulting from Peril saving his life from a Dragonbite Viper’s venom by burning it out with her firescales. ** Clay is the second dragon known to be bitten by a Dragonbite Viper and the only dragon known to have survived the bite. * Clay has displayed his concern for the safety of young dragonets, such as the students attending Jade Mountain Academy. * Clay, alongside Starflight, are the only Dragonets of Destiny whose lineage past their parents is unknown. * Clay is the only Dragonet of Destiny who doesn't have green eyes. * The orange-brown dragonet in Moon's vision in Moon Rising may be the future dragonet of Peril and Clay; however, no clear evidence has confirmed this. * It is very likely that Clay loves Peril just like she loves him throughout the series and knows of her love for him. This is mostly displayed during the epilogue of Darkness of Dragons in Peril's point of view, and when Peril left at the end of The Dragonet Prophecy. * Clay is the second known dragon to have survived being burned by Peril, Kestrel being the first and Prince Winter, the third. * Tui has said that Clay was one of the easiest characters to write just because she adores him, and she says "affable/kindhearted/loyal/hungry is exactly my type of hero". * Clay is one of the five dragons whose cover does not match the book description. The others are Tsunami, Anemone, Qibli, and Blue. * In The Dragonet Prophecy (Graphic Novel) cover, his eyes are yellow when in the book they are hazel. * In ''The Dragonet Prophecy (Graphic Novel), ''it shows that Dune is the one who named him. * Clay was the first Dragonet of Destiny to meet one of their parents. References Edit # ↑ The Dragonet Prophecy (Annotated) Chapter 101